There seems to be a debate about whether or not to use a gig bag or a case. In Europe in general things are a lot smaller than they are in the US. Cars, vans, venues etc.

I have always found it difficult to transport my full sized Alembic hard case for my Spoiler. It did not fit across the back seat of my last car, and up until I got the new one, it did not lay flat in the trunk of the car either. It was a real pain to transport.

Just for your information I have run across a bass gig bag by a company called Body Glove. It is a rigid gig bag. This might sound silly but the bag is sort of like a clam shell covered with a bit of fabric and very well padded.

The quality of the bag is great as well. It comes with backpack straps and an over the shoulder strap as well.

For those of you in Europe the bag sells at most shops in the US for $129.95 and will therefore be able to be shipped into Europe without paying any import duty! In the UK that will add at lease 28.5% to the cost of the item plus paying the company importing the item for you.

The case is very roomy and will easily hold my 34" Spoiler standard point body with a crown headstock.

Thanks Michael, I have a similar problem with cases. I drive a Toyota MR2 Spyder. There is no backseat or trunk. Good job using the word trunk BTW, nice touch. Anyway I have to stand mine up between the passenger seat and dash board. I use a pretty good Warwick gig bag but it still makes me a little nervous. I hate to think what would happen should the airbag deploy.

I've got room for the Harley out back in the bed, and my full 2-2X10 cab Eden bass rig with the Alembic in it's rolling flight case all safely inside inside the cab. It is doubtful, however, that a 16ft long, 4-ton Dodge Ram Cummins HD pick-up would be practical in the EU, LOL! At $3/gal for Diesel, it's getting hard to imagine it being practical here in the States as well.

Seriously though, as a single (4-wheel) vehicle owner, my ride had to be able to carry and/or tow all my toys should it become necessary. This is what I told myself when I dumped nearly $50k on the thing, and Diesel was $1.41/gal for 6mos. running at the time of order. That's my story and I'm sticking to it, LOL!

I share Kevin's situation. Everything has to at some point fit in the back, with the family in the seats. Hence a big pickup truck. We drive my wife's Toyota as much as possible, and I've been riding a motorcycle to work and back every day (which is remarkably relaxing). I couldn't find the link to the Body Glove gig bag, which I (my back) would be very interested in. I pondered the Jetta diesel, but that much weight navigating my long driveway through the woods would destroy the suspension. John

Thanks for the head's up about the Body Glove gig bags. I couldn't find it using your link. But a quick google and there it was. I currently use a Levys Hemp Elecric gig bag - a very sturdy and relatively protective bag. But the hard/soft description of the Body Glove sounded pretty interesting. I ordered one from samash.com - still family-owned, I'm told. $129, no tax, free shipping, and easy return policy. Such a deal!! The funny thing is the one place I NEVER use a gig bag is a gig! It's great for to and from rehearsal, but if my guitar is going to be lugged around with a bunch of other gear, it's in a case! I used to be prejudice against gig bags for 30+ years - they were for people who couldn't afford a case or didn't respect their instruments. Then I got the hemp bag and fell in love. Never too old to learn.

Thanks for that link, Mike! I have exactly the problem you described - the hard case for my MK won't fit in my boot (sorry, trunk!) and only just fits (at a rakish angle!) across the two back seats. So it just doesn't get out as often as it should, especially given that I often end up ferrying a keyboard or two, and the guitarist and his amp, to and from gigs.

One of these Body Glove things would also have enabled me to bring my MK up to Edinburgh on the plane the other weekend :-)

Just a quick question - will an MK standard point fit into one of these? How does your Spoiler compare in size to a MK standard point? I was under the impression that the Spoiler was a bit smaller (and is it a shorter scale, too?), so I'm a bit worried that the MK might not fit!

Here's my Mark King / Series II 5 -string in a Reunion Blues bag I bought off of Bassgear.com a few years ago.

The guy I bought it from was in the process of starting a business to make custom gigbags, so he took it back and applied my funds towards a prototype bag he made off the dimensions of my bass. Alembic now offers these gigbags in their store. My 52" long bass, my DS-5 & power cord, and a whole lot of other stuff are in the bag in this picture.

I don't think I'd be too keen to have my bass in a gigbag personally unless it was quite well braced to guard against knocks.

But i'm surprised you are having trouble getting your stuff in a regular sized Eurpopean car.

I drive an Mcc Smart car ( ForTwo) and in that car I get my 1x15 and 2x10 power house speaker cabs, music stand and guitar stand in the back and my 3u rack unit with amp and SF-2 on the front seat and bass in flight case in the front passenger side of the car. I'm a tad under 6 feet and can still get comfortably in the car.

Ye of little faith....... lol Sure when it's packed for my next bass playing gig I will take a pic of the stuff inside and out of the car. It always intrigues people when they see me taking my stuff to the car and they are really surprised to see it all get in, and me get in the car as well.... lol

I'm not a fan of gigbags myself, never owned/used any..always cases. but to each their own and what ever works.

Oh my Jazzyvee your driving the little clown car !! ( just teasing..lol) that car is small......I'd love to see pics of that too !!

The smallest car I had was a '79 Mustang, I had a Peavey 2-15 Black Widow cab that took up the whole back seat, a Peavey Mark IV head that fit in the trunk and 2 basses that fit in the back seat , one in front of the cabinet and one on top of it, cables and gtr stands also fit in the trunk.... since then its been all vans.....lol

The fedex guy delievered my new Body Glove gig bag yesterday. I'm VERY impressed. It is without a doubt the most protective gig bag I've ever run across. Certainly MUCH better than a soft bag or (horrors!) a chipboard case. It really is a new beast - a hybrid hard/soft case - more than a standard gig bag. It also comes with a cool little separate bag that fits inside an outside compartment and will hold a bunch of stuff (extra strings, wirecutters, polish cloth, tuner crank, picks, little stuff like that) and has a couple of velcro straps on the outside so you can strap it to your amp handle and have all your stuff at ready access. There are two choices for shoulder transportation. There is a single strap that clips on for carrying your axe over one shoulder. Additionally, you unzip a compartment and there are shoulder straps and a waist strap ala a camping backpack. The top flap to this compartment then rolls and clips down, turning into a pad that rides on your lower back when you wear the bag backpack style. (Are you listening all you motorcycle riders?) All in all for the $119 I paid (I found a $119 listing on eBay that Samash.com matched) this is nothing short of a bargain! Two big thumbs up! If you have doubts about gig bags but would consider a truly protective one, you should really check this one out. Samash.com has a very liberal return policy as I understand.

I want to travel with my Spyder bass. I would prefer not to buy an ATA flight case and pay all the freight charges every time I want to travel, let alone heft the bloody thing around. There is no existing gigbag for a bass of this size and shape.

Would you:

1) Get the flight case and suck it up, or...

2) Have Alembic make a gigbag (they can, of course)? Would you trust a gigbag? Would the airlines let me take a gigbag that size onto an airplane?

If you're flying - get the flight case. I seriously doubt that any airline is going to let an instrument that size in the cabin. Even if you get authorization verbally up front, I've heard that the gate attendants have the final say. And if all you have is the bag, it goes under like that, or you don't go.

Even with the TSA in the states not allowing checked baggage to be locked, I'd still trust the flight case. I didn't have any trouble taking my Series I overseas in January in its flight case (and it spent the night at JFK in New York while I went on to Turkey).

I have done quite a lot of travelling over the past year with my band, on and off airlines. I used to carry my Strat in a full flight case which went in the hold with all the other luggage. In once sense I'm glad i took that approach as on one flight something heavy had dropped on the case and left a deep gash in the plywood casing and the case was soaking wet as was all the other members of the band's equipment. Fortunately the Flight case was strong and no water got into the case nor did the gash penetrate the inside of the case.

That said I have now decided to carry my guitar on-board with me, mainly due to fear of it getting lost or delayed. The last two trips abroad I have done this and had no problems with the cabin crew. I think if the case is guitar shaped they are more likely to allow it on board. On my last trip which was to Spain, another passenger ahead of me also had an electric guitar strat but it was in a padded rectangular case which was not much larger than my guitar shaped case, but he was told it would have to go into the hold.

Here's my fear. I attempt to bring my guitar on board in a gig bag and the crew says no, it has to go underneath with the cargo. Then what do I do? Send my guitar below in only a gig bag or miss my flight? Not exactly the choice I want to have to face.

true and a tricky situation because if you ask the travel or ticket agent, they will not usually know or even be bothered to find out. Maybe you could call the airline and see what their policy is? Otherwise you may just have to get a flight case just to be safe.

The problem is that there isn't any set policy (and if there is one, it is that it won't go on the plane).

Not only that, but the person that has the final say-so is a line-level employee, and may or may not be aware of corporate policies. Your ability to put your guitar in the cabin may well be regulated by someone that is having a bad day, doesn't like people, hates beards, etc. You get the point-- you are totally at someone's whim.

That person's say will be final, even if they're just being vindictive because they hate guitar players.

I do usually follow the old adage, "ask for forgiveness rather than permission", but it just seems too risky to me (to use a gig bag/try to carry on). Especially considering the looks of your bass (i.e. it has many, er, pointy bits).

I never check bags when I'm travelling (unless I'm with my wife, and then I have no choice-- her idea of minimal and mine are somewhat at odds), so I understand your want here, but I'd get the flight case.